BASKETBALL

The Women’s Final Four is set, and to no one’s surprise, UConn made the semis for the 20th time. In fact, UConn has been in the Final Four for the past 12 years in a row. Making their ninth trip to the semis, Notre Dame will face their rival UConn. UConn and Notre Dame have played each other 50 times with UConn leading 37-12.  Notre Dame, however, holds bragging rights in Final Four wins at 4-3.  The other matchup features Baylor (4th trip to the semis) taking on Oregon who is playing in the Final Four for the first time.

Tune in Friday, April 5th, 7:00 pm Baylor vs Oregon, 9:00 pm UConn vs Notre Dame on ESPN2

In other NCAA news, Kentucky’s longtime coach John Calipari signed a contract extension to stay with the school for the remainder of his career. According to reports, UCLA was interested in speaking with Calipari for its head coaching position, but Kentucky offered a financial extension and a promise to “serve as an ambassador for the university after his retirement”. At $9.2 million, Calipari is listed as the highest-paid coach in the country.

FOOTBALL

Top quarterback prospect for the NFL draft, Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray, had a workout and dinner with the Oakland Raiders on Monday, raising eyebrows on whether they would trade up from their 4th pick to take him.  Their interest in Murray could also be part of a ploy to make sure other talent is available for their pick. Expect some interesting maneuvers in the next few weeks in anticipation of the April 25th NFL draft.

BASKETBALL

An exciting weekend and some big upsets in the NCAA tournament.  Michigan State beat #1 seed Duke and advanced to its first Final Four appearance since 2015 (their 10th all-time).  Michigan State’s Kenny Goins, a redshirt senior who was a walk-on, shot the three-pointer that sealed the win. According to NBA Legend and Michigan State alum, Magic Johnson, “College basketball won today. You see the team that’s been together for a long time win, and maybe that will help guys to say ‘well, I’m OK to stay, maybe I’ve got to work on my talent and my game.’ Because Michigan State (has) got a team full of those guys, and they did OK today.” Michigan State 68, Duke 67

In other NCAA Final Four news, #5 Auburn overcame #2 Kentucky 77-71 in a thrilling overtime victory, clinching its first final four berth in school history.

Rounding out the semis is Texas Tech and Virginia.

On Saturday, April 6th In Minneapolis, Virginia will face Auburn at 6:09 pm EST and Michigan State vs Texas Tech at 8:49 pm. EST.

FOOTBALL

Over the weekend in Prague, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck married his longtime girlfriend Nicole Pechanec. Luck and Pechanec were both elite athletes and classmates at Stanford University. Pechanec was captain of the gymnastics team and represented the Czech national team in the World Games and European Championships.